Obama’s Record
September 10th, 2011 at 9:43 am by David Farrar
From the Wall Street Journal.
These are not of course all Obama’s fault. But it shows the challenge he will face with re-election. At present his best advantage is the comparative weakness of the Republican contenders.
September 10th, 2011 at 10:02 am
“…..his best advantage is the comparative weakness of the Republican contenders.”
You surely can not be serious!
[DPF: Yep. Perry did not do well in 1st debate.]
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 10:09 am
One thing Obama’s tenure has taught me about the American political system, is how impotent the office of POTUS is if your party doesn’t have a majority in the house.
I’m not sure it’s fair to blame all those things on Obama – the GFC would have come whoever was in power. But it’s not a good time for infighting and indecision, that’s for sure.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 10:17 am
So, what reason is there to vote for Obama?
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 10:20 am
Adolf Fiinkensein (2,079) Says:
September 10th, 2011 at 10:02 am
“…..his best advantage is the comparative weakness of the Republican contenders.”
You surely can not be serious!
I am sure DPF is both serious, and correct.
Who are the Rethuglicans offerring?
Michelle Bachman, who as POTUS would make no decisions herself, but would do whatever her husband tells her.
Rick Perry who prayed for rain to end Texas’ drought and when god sent wildfires instead of rain still refuses to hear god telling him climate change is real.
Mitt Romney, if you thought JFK pulled off a remarkable feat to be a catholic and still elected POTUS Romney’s going to have to be so much more remarkable. I think even a Muslim would be more electable than a Moron.
Sarah Palin who has quit everything she has tried to date and would leave the whitehouse in under 2 years if elected?
Is that the best the GOP can offer? A bunch of illeducated, dumbarsed, science hating know nothings?
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 10:25 am
The racist extemist jackboot is for Obama, thats all I need to know.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 10:27 am
MNIJ, waiiit just a goddamn minnit.
Palin has been successful in everything she’s done, and has a stronger resume than Obama.
She’s been a real mayor; he hasn’t
She’s been a real governor; he hasn’t
She’s been in charge of the Alaska national Guard; ditto
She’s a whistleblower who defeated an incumbent mayor
She took on the incumbent leader of her own party and beat him.
She beat a former democratic governor in the general election.
Tell me one thing Obama had done before becoming POTUS, except talk and write?
Vote:He was a community organizer – big deal..
September 10th, 2011 at 10:40 am
That was the whole idea in the founding of America, one that Kiwi’s just don’t get. A weak executive – except in the case of war – and a government that does not get too big for it’s boots. It’s taken about 100 years for “Progressives”, from Wilson on, to grind that down.
Still, when I have one Obama voting friend from NYC and another from SF, telling me that “the government doesn’t work”, there may be hope – that’s in real hope!
No, it’s not fair. But it is fair to blame the actions of 2009 and 2010 on the useless sod. As for infighting and indecision – that’s the system working again, with US voters turning the House over in order to st tophe Democrats and Obama cold. People who bitch about the partisan divide (e.g. Obama, the Democrats and the global left) are those who simply refuse to accept that, as if 2008 trumps 2010.
MyNameIsJackOff …… Ahhh, forget it. The Blue Model is failing, you’ve given up defending it except as an outright voter bribe, and you know it, which is why the only thing you and the rest of the left can do is run around with your hair on fire screaming about religion and “science haters” (can’t wait for left-wing support of GE to happen).
The way things are going the Syphilitic Camel rule will be in operation by next November.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 10:40 am
Sarah Palin is a retard. She is seriously stupid. Thick as 3 short planks.
It’s a pity the Republicans can’t get rid of their fundie Christian and downright dumb factions.
It would be hard to be an American voter because it’s a choice between God-hates-fagging/abortionist-bombing/Jesus-sucking morons and public-money-spending/tax-increasing/society-re-educating idiots.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 10:44 am
Fletch, I am not here to boost Obama, simply supporting DPF’s thesis that the GOP don’t have much in the way of talent, and your focussing on Palin rather than those who have ACTUALLY declared an intention to run proves his point.
Palin quit 2 colleges before completing a degree in journalism (all of them) at a third.
Palin quit as Mayor before her term was up
Palin quit as Governor before her term was up.
Palin lauinched a bus tour of the 48 contiguous states and quit less than half way through.
Sarah The Quiter Palin – is that the best you’ve got?
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 10:44 am
If something is the “highest since”, then it’s not a record.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 10:44 am
The seeds for pretty much all 10 of those indicators were sown as far back as Reagan if not before. The current debt crisis is military spending based – Reagan and then the two Bushs are the cause of most of that.
Debt levels are often better under democrats than republicans, who controls congress pretty much dictates what happens in the US. If the house and senate are one party and the white house the other, all the president can do is veto.
Debt under different admins:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Federal_Debt_1901-2010_.jpg
I’m always amused by the willingness of NZ commentators to put NZ labels on US politicians – the natural fit of mainstream democrats is way to the right of our national party. I’m all for a Republican president but lets hope not Bachmann or Palin – last thing we need is policy being set by a voice in their head called Jesus. They may have a chance of getting the nomination but they’d be unelectable in presidential race.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 10:47 am
Hmmm…
Heh, heh. When something like that gets past the editors of the NYT it might pay to start questioning your own premises.
By the way – according to Barack, Abraham Lincoln was the founder of the Republican Party – and that was said in a speech to a joint session of Congress, not off the cuff. Really – thick as 3 short ….
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 11:23 am
Well, Adolf, what do you think is Barack Obama’s best advantage?
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 11:27 am
Palin may have a stronger resume than Obama had, but she does not have a stronger resume.
He has been President.
He has been in charge of the US Military.
He took on the annointed front-runner (Clinton) and beat her.
Etc.
Palin can’t run against an Obama with no experience, the only Obama she can run against is one who’s been President and commander-in-chief for three and a half years.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 11:39 am
Graeme, well shit…
Nixon was President too, and Carter. Do you think that made them both more qualified?
Obama is pretty much a Manchurian Candidate anyway. He has his czars who make most of the decisions for him.
He couldn’t even decide to take out Bin Laden when they located him. He ummed and ored for days (because of advice from Valerie Jarrett), and eventually they pretty much went ahead without him (Panetta gave the order) and called Obama away from his golf (true) into the situation room only when they almost had Bin laden.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 11:39 am
Good grief – did you actually even look at that graph before you linked to it?
It’s rather pointless when there is so much cross-over between the Dem/GOP Congresses who actually hold the purse strings and Dem/GOP “admins”.
Debt exploded during WWI and WWII, both Dem presidents. But it also leaped under FDR and Dem Congress in peacetime, then declined through the 1950′s-70′s under both Dem and GOP admins – but with total Dem dominance of Congress. Then it began steadily rising with Reagan – but still with Dem control of Congress (three terms of GOP Senate control, who have little more budget influence than a President). Then falling with Clinton – but with GOP Congressional control. Finally, you’ll note that even with a “compassionate conservative” in charge, spending still did not explode until the Dems took Congress in January 2007.
At best a graph like this proves nothing about the history of the GOP vs the Dems in terms of spending, let alone the makeup of the parties today on economic matters, any more than a graph of GOP support for vs. Dem opposition to civil rights for blacks over the decades would tell you about party makeup today.
In any case, it’s a disingenuous argument from the left. They’re the ones who’ve always pushed for increased government spending – driven as much by government expansion as discretionary spending increases and locked-in programs like Medicare, all of which the left have also pushed for. The most you can accuse the GOP of is hypocrisy and political cowardice. And given the constant guilt reinforcement about throwing granny off the cliff in her wheelchair the GOP response is not surprising.
No matter how many times this is refuted it never dies in the breast of a left-winger. Since you love Wikipedia graphs so much take a look at this one tracking the Defence Spending % of the Federal Budget 1950-2010.
You’ll note how it drops from near 70% in the mid-1950′s to a little over 20% in the 70′s, with a bump to the mid-20′s courtesy of Reagan. I’ll leave you to look up the % of GDP graph, which shows a similar trend. But on your point it’s the % of Federal Budget that matters. There’s simply no way to explain the current debt crisis as being due to military spending – even if you buy into Stiglitz’s “three trillion dollar war”, which is incidentally another nail in the coffin of Keynesian theory, since the vast majority of that spending landed right back in the USA, and apparently did not help much.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 11:43 am
from White House Insider –
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 11:50 am
During their run for a second term of office? Yes. Vastly more qualified than they were four years earlier.
It doesn’t necessarily make them better than their opponents. But in a “do they have more experience of the type it would be good for presidents to have?” Absolutely.
Anyone who has been POTUS for four years is more experienced than someone who hasn’t. Experience isn’t the only thing we look for, but when running against an incumbent, the lack of experience card can’t really be played. The incompetent card, or the taking-America-in-the-wrong-direction card, or whatever? Yes. But inexperienced? No.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 11:53 am
I’ve read a lot about how indolent Obama is behind the scenes, how he takes long vacations, treats work casually.
One of the insider stories raises an interesting point. I don’t know whether it’s true or not but it says Obama is planning to use the race card as his re-election strategy. He knows he has no cards: i.e. achievements to play, moderate Democrats are looking sideways at how he is handling the debt issue and the economy generally. So he’s planning to whip up civil unrest.
I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s a very peculiar President. We’ve now had four very peculiar Presidents in a row: Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, Obama.
Some people might think that’s just a coincidence. Of course it is.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 11:54 am
Graeme, using your argument, then we should never have another POTUS; just stick with the same one forever.
I don’t think that “experience” counts for much, especially in the case of Obama whose only experience has been f*cking up the USA. I’d go for someone who has pride in their country and, dare I say it, a good dose of common sense. I like Allen West, and yes, Palin. People keep on saying that Palin is as thick as two short planks but without anything to back it up with.
From what I’ve read of her writings on Facebook etc, she is very intelligent and doesn’t put up with any shit.
Vote:When those thousands of emails of hers were released recently (24,000 emails I think), the Left trolled through them all, hoping to find something to nail her with. They found nothing….
September 10th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
Actually I keep waiting for the following two scandals to wash over Obama.
First, his administration’s extensive ties to the failed Solyndra company and the $535 million in Energy Dept loans now down the toilet. The FBI just raided Solyndra offices the other day.
Second – and perhaps worse – his administration’s ties to the Operation Fast and Furious scandal, whereby the Departments of Justice and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms enabled guns to be sold to Mexican drug cartels – and got a US agent killed.
I know it gets boring to ask the question – What If This Was Bush – but I have no doubt that if this was a GOP president, both these disasters would already have been on high rotate on the front pages of the NYT, WaPo, and all the usual suspects.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
DPF: Yep. Perry did not do well in 1st debate.
You are literally the first commentator I have seen make this assertion. Even Chris Matthews on MSNBC has been defending him FFS!
Both Perry and Romney are very strong candidates, and both are leading Obama in polls right now. There is nothing weak about them. If anything, Obama is the weak candidate – he is very vulnerable to a primary challenge right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if Al Gore had a crack at him.
Bachmann is a weak candidate, but there is no way she is going to be the nominee, despite a lot of pretending going on at Fox. She might win Iowa, but nobody cares about Iowa. The real primary race starts in South Carolina, and she is nowhere there.
As for Palin, well you can say what you like, but she is the most charismatic politician the US has seen since Bill Clinton, and nobody should underestimate her. I’d be very interested to see her enter this race and shake things up. She has a difficult road to hoe pulling back her high negatives, but I think she is capable of that if she plays her cards right and does the right thing. She is a lot smarter than most on the Left give her credit for.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
Only if you ignore what my argument actually was.
MyNameIsJack was arguing that Palin was more experienced than Obama. Maybe she was, but she isn’t any more.
That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t be a better President than Obama. It does mean that if she tries defeat Obama by claiming that she is more experienced than he is, that she will be laughed at.
Experience is one factor to look at in determining whom one thinks would be a better President. At the 2012 election, that factor will be in Obama’s favour. Depending on who his opponent is will depend on how much that factor is in Obama’s favour, but experience is something Obama will have over any opponent.
He might not have the advantage in policy. Or guts. Or rhetoric. Or buy-in by swing voters in swing states. Or the 100 other things it is good for someone seeking election as President to have. But he will be more experienced.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
mnij,
“Michelle Bachman, who as POTUS would make no decisions herself, but would do whatever her husband tells her.”
No, she wouldn’t. This claim is a liberal beatup based on a total misunderstanding of the concept of headship. Liberal secular ignorance.
“Rick Perry who prayed for rain to end Texas’ drought and when god sent wildfires instead of rain still refuses to hear god telling him climate change is real.”
Prayer simply makes him human. Most humans pray. Our Parliament does. AGW is a theory not a fact.
“Mitt Romney, if you thought JFK pulled off a remarkable feat to be a catholic and still elected POTUS Romney’s going to have to be so much more remarkable. I think even a Muslim would be more electable than a Moron.”
Mabey, mabey not. As your not American, how could you possibly know?
“Sarah Palin who has quit everything she has tried to date and would leave the whitehouse in under 2 years if elected?”
So all you have in the way of commentary is ignorance and bigotry.
tristanb,
“It’s a pity the Republicans can’t get rid of their fundie Christian and downright dumb factions.”
Far from being “dumb” most American Evangelics display more intelligence than the liberals who post here. But of course as an enemy of Western Civilisation its vital that you promote hatred against its defenders so you can make the world safe for people who have sex in toilets.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 12:45 pm
1) Santorum posed as a defender of the poor and wants to invade Venezuela, which makes sense considering the fact that America has been looking for an excuse to invade Venezuala ever since Hugo Chavez stood up against American corporate imperialism.
2) Perry thinks he should automatically win because he has a hotline directly linked from his head to ‘God’. I would love to see his Texas education system implemented across the United States (satire in case any of you missed that).
3) I think Bachmann forgot how to speak (wait, she never could).
4) Romney proved to be a well-polished ‘politician’.
5) Ron Paul, was the only candidate who made any coherent sense. Considering the fact that most Americans are ignorant, I am grateful that Ron Paul somewhat masks his views behind a veil. Stating his actual position would, most likely, further discount his current position in the race and deter the brainwashed populous from voting for him. Which, in my opinion, is this: AMERICA has been the biggest terrorist threat in the Middle East and that is the stem of the major societal and economic problems. Get rid of the 1k+ US military bases around the world, stop funding unsustainable (corporate) wars, and let’s take care of ourselves.
6) And all of them, minus Paul, were blabbering on about how big of a threat Iran is in the middle east.
7) Huntsman is the most pragmatic of the bunch, and the only one who doesn’t subscribe to retarded Christian ideas of Creationism and homophobia. He doesn’t have a chance of winning though given the majority of GOP voters are retarded Christians who believe in Creationism and are homophobic.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 12:59 pm
CW,
“Considering the fact that most Americans are ignorant,”
How long did you live in the USA for? Or am I right in thinking that the ignorance here is all yours?
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
I would love to see his Texas education system implemented across the United States (satire in case any of you missed that).
I would love to see it implemented in New Zealand. There is nothing wrong with the Texas education system – the reason Texas graduation rates are so poor is that we have more Spanish speakers, legal and illegal, than any other State in the Union. This does a lot of damage to the stats. It’s a fact that people conveniently like to forget when they talk about education in Texas. There’s also the problem that the Republicans have only had five sets of two month legislative sessions to start making a difference to 125 years of Democratic misrule in this State.
Finally, Perry has almost zero input into education in Texas – the Education Secretary is elected separately, and the Lieutenant Governor is the one who guides the legislative programme.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
BlairM,
Your going to confuse poor old CW with all those facts. He doesn’t deal well with reality.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
He doesn’t have a chance of winning though given the majority of GOP voters are retarded Christians who believe in Creationism and are homophobic.
Can’t really go past the earlyier comment:
So all you have in the way of commentary is ignorance and bigotry.
Comments like that make me chuckle because people who honestly believe hateful propaganda like that are left completely unable to understand american politics. The right doesn’t like the left, but at least we have a much more realistic view of them than they do of us.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Barack O’Bama’s history and achievements in office seem to align pretty much with that of Sue Bradford, both being ex social workers.OBama inflicted America with a Health system they don’t want and Sue got spanking your kids when they were naughty banned despite the vast majority of voters not wanting it. Apart from that they achieved nothing, Sue has left and Obama about to.
The Republican Contenders all seem to me to have good credentials
ROMNEY has a record of success in Politics and Business
PERRY despite having to contend with a serious drought has his State booming while almost all the rest are failing.
BACHMAN shows real grit and determination.
PALIN:…Has charisma and ability to overcome the odds.
CAIN;…A black man and not a politician seems to have all the ability to resolve problems that O’Bama lacks, and speaks succinctly whereas O’Bama speaks with verbosity around the issues.
I think anyone of the above could stamp their mark and bring credit to the high office, and resolve those problems that are beyond O’Bama.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
My preference would be for a Perry/Bachman pairing, though I strongly suspect that Romney will win in the end. I would be comfortable with that if I could be sure of his conservative credentials, especially on social issues like marriage and abortion, but I’m not sure his recent moves to the conservative right are genuine. Still, this election is going to about the economy, no doubt about that.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Palin quit 2 colleges before completing a degree in journalism (all of them) at a third.
In other words, she transferred a couple of times.
Palin quit as Mayor before her term was up
Which term? Her first, or her second? Wikipedia states ” In 2002, she completed the second of the two consecutive three-year terms she was allowed to serve by the city charter.”
Palin quit as Governor before her term was up.
Thanks to a torrent of petty harassment that was making it impossible for Alaska to have a functioning governor.
Palin lauinched a bus tour of the 48 contiguous states and quit less than half way through.
She paused halfway through to do her jury service. She has since resumed.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Perry did ok in the debate but did have issues with some of the questions he had trouble with. However a presidential bid is a marathon not a sprint so expect him to get better.
However the debate was crap as no questions were asked about the economy, high unemployment, the deficit and debt issue. These were all things that they could of hammered Obama on.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
re: Perry and Texas – people are referring to that because of the section of Islamic curriculum that Perry helped implement together with the Aga Khan in Texas schools.
There was a thing about it on conservative blogs a while back. The curriculum presented a fantasy of benign Islam.
LINK
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Lee01 (433) Says:
September 10th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
mnij,
“Michelle Bachman, who as POTUS would make no decisions herself, but would do whatever her husband tells her.”
No, she wouldn’t. This claim is a liberal beatup based on a total misunderstanding of the concept of headship. Liberal secular ignorance.
Bachman is on the record that she does what she is told. She didn’t want to do tax law, her husband told her to do tax law, she obeyed. THAT is headship in action!
“Rick Perry who prayed for rain to end Texas’ drought and when god sent wildfires instead of rain still refuses to hear god telling him climate change is real.”
Prayer simply makes him human. Most humans pray. Our Parliament does. AGW is a theory not a fact.
You do understand the difference between theroy in day to day language and in scientific language, do you not? No, I guess you don’t. Evolution is a theory. Gravity is a theory.
“Mitt Romney, if you thought JFK pulled off a remarkable feat to be a catholic and still elected POTUS Romney’s going to have to be so much more remarkable. I think even a Muslim would be more electable than a Moron.”
Mabey, mabey not. As your not American, how could you possibly know?
Sorry, wasn’t aware I had to be a Seppo to read Seppo news and make an informed decision.
“Sarah Palin who has quit everything she has tried to date and would leave the whitehouse in under 2 years if elected?”
Yep, Sarah the Quitter Palin, what a jioke
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
And one more on Rick Perry, the idiot doesn’t even know what is in the State curriculum. He has said that evolution is “only a theory” which is why we teach evolution and ID in Texas schools.
Well, they don’t teach ID in Texas schools, that would be illegal.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
The Messiah should be toast in 2012 (no pun intended).
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Bachman is on the record that she does what she is told.
Funny how a search for ‘ Bachmann “I do what I’m told”‘ reveals precisely zero relevant hits.
I guess “on the record” means something different to you.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 4:29 pm
“Thanks to a torrent of petty harassment that was making it impossible for Alaska to have a functioning governor.”
So petty harassment was enough to abandon your elected post? Someone should tell every other politician in the world. They will be shocked to hear it.
“only a theory”
Ought to disqualify anyone from being an elected official.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
I get 77,700 results copying and pasting what you typed. Are you using Bing?
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
here ya go scrubbie
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/would-michele-bachmann-be-a-submissive-president/2011/07/19/gIQAOfNfOI_story.html
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
Wow – stunningly beautiful day here in Ak, although a bit windy along the waterfront. Rugby on TV, if you’re interested in that (I’m not). And what’s being going here at Kiwiblog – raging religious discussions on the GD and this thread.
Anyway, I’m glad to see that left-wingers are now keen to discuss religion in US politics. Can’t wait to hear them asking Obama these same questions, although I’d guess that whitey-hatin’, Jew-hatin’ Wright is still far down the memory hole.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
David, it was the words ‘comparative weakness’ which caught my eye.
Compared with whom? Obama?
I think not. Even the poorest of the Repub hopefuls has more ability and leadership skill than the incumbent oaf.
By the way, I don’t think I spotted one of his greatest achievements in your list. The highest rate of staff turnover of any president in the history of the US. A true record, unlikely to be breached for many a decade.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 5:13 pm
“He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.”
Thomas Jefferson
“…I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”
Thomas Jefferson
And a very wise man was he.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
So, what are the options?
Two mad as meat axe females, both of whom think that leadership comes via the work of fiction that is the bible and one who can see “Russia from her house”.
Or, we have two bible bashing men who have perfect colgate smiles and also think that religion should matter.
Or….an old bloke with a voice like a strangled cat.
Seriously, as much as I dislike B Hussein Messiah Obama he is going to walk into a second term unless the right can come up with a man (and yes it does have to be a man, it seems that all the chicks on the right are insane) like Chris Christie who is less concerned about religion and more concerned about doing what is right and what is needed.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 6:30 pm
I can’t help wondering if Obama’s best play might be as follows:
For the independents:
Even if I’m re-elected I’ll be a lame duck President from day one (another first in US history). Facing a GOP Senate and House I’ll be completely unable to push forward anything new and substantive. So you need not worry about me – but you do need to worry about a GOP that controls everything. Remember what happened last time?
For the left-wing base:
We’ve still got Obamacare. Yeah, yeah, I know you’re pissed with it. But come 2014 that sucker will be locked in, just like Medicare and Social Security before it, and the GOP won’t be able to do a damn thing about it. And then, another few years down the road, most of the insurance companies, private hospitals and private doctors who’ve not been co-opted into the system will have left the business one way or another. So if it all starts crashing down we’ll be able to finally offer up the US NHS. Compared to the disaster that will be unfolding that option will look good.
With regard to Guantanamo Bay, wiretaps, the Patriot Act, drone strikes, rendition and extra-legal killings…..? Come on. We both know that was just a club to beat Bush with. You people never really gave shit about those things: why else did the anti-war protest die, never to be re-born, after I was elected.
So – are you really going to stay home on election day? Get real: you want those abortions, you need those abortions – gay marriage too – and I hear the sound of Christian fundamentalists grinding their teeth over the horizon. So wimin up!
Worth a shot? Okay – I know it’s a long way from Hope and Change, but let’s face it, that’s a dead as a dodo, and this is not as bad as spending six months running a 100% negative campaign about the GOP opponent. That’s soul destroying and might not work anyway.
Besides, the best marketing work is one that captures the the national mood – and right now that’s one of exhausted cynicism.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Whilst I agree with Bruv and would like to see Christie having a run I dont think he is electable just yet. One more term of Obama and he would be.
Vote:I base this on Obama not having ‘completely’ destroyed the US just yet, although he appears to be trying hard. There is still a core of unionist getting away with just about anything and the control of the education system by the children of the Vietnam protest movement. Christie would be seen as too hard to elect.
What will be interesting is if Perry can pair with Mario Rubio from Florida. At present Obama will be relying on the African American support and as many Hispanics as possible to top up is soggy liberalist vote. If Perry gets Rubio onside then he may have taken a large part of the Hispanic voting block. Rubio is the son of Cuban exiles.
September 10th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
I get 77,700 results copying and pasting what you typed. Are you using Bing?
No, google. And I get 14 million irrelevant links.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
And a very wise man was he.
Certainly wiser than those who quote an obscure brush-off letter to a group of constituents as gospel.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
So petty harassment was enough to abandon your elected post? Someone should tell every other politician in the world. They will be shocked to hear it.
Well, let’s launch a dozen nuisance lawsuits against you and see how well you’re able to do your job. But Palin has had to cope with a lot more than that.
But nice to see that you can only keep suggesting Palin is a quitter by misquoting me.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 6:52 pm
Two mad as meat axe females, both of whom think that leadership comes via the work of fiction that is the bible and one who can see “Russia from her house”.
I don’t particularly like Tina Fey, but she’s not mad and she isn’t running.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 7:12 pm
“Certainly wiser than those who quote an obscure brush-off letter”
Indubitably true, and certainly wiser than those who rely on context to decipher connotation.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
scrubone
Yeah, I know she did not say the words “I can see Russia from my house” but the point is (and one missed by Palin fans) is that most people can imagine her saying something exactly like that. Let’s be honest, the lady is a moron.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 7:31 pm
So Scrubone thinks Barry’s a fool, yet he defends Bachmann:
Bachmann:
“I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, ‘Are you going to start listening to me here?’”
“I give more credence in the Scripture as being kind of a timeless word of God to mankind, and I take it for what it is. And I don’t think I give as much credence to my own mind, because I see myself as being very limited and very flawed, and lacking in knowledge, and wisdom and understanding.”
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Don’t forget, Bachmann alos claimed to be giving a speech in John Wayne’s hometown when she was really in the hometown of John Wayne Gacey!
Bachman has a record as a liar.
She lies about not profiting from government subsidies
And she lies about attending a family reunion
Is there anything Michelle “Liar for Jesus” Bachman won’t lie about?
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Sarah Palin:
“Nuclear weaponry, of course, would be the be-all, end-all of just too many people in too many parts of our planet.”
“I didn’t believe the theory that human beings – thinking, loving beings – originated from fish that sprouted legs and crawled out of the sea. Or that human beings began as single-celled organisms that developed into monkeys who eventually swung down from the trees.”
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
Obama came in and inherited an economy that was in the crap, he has only made things worse, this has been pointed out by endless cheerleaders of the National Party (and rightly so)
So, it is strange to see so many of those same cheerleaders support Neville Key for doing pretty much the same thing.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
I don’t think much of Obama either, but George W was worse. I’d quite like to see Ron Paul have a go as POTUS, just to see what would happen.
Vote:September 10th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
A populist left leaning leader, welfare at an all time high, economy in ruins – gosh who would have predicted that!
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 3:46 am
Spot on!
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 3:50 am
Another one on the Messiah: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/09/pbs_alters_transcript_to_hide_obama_gaffe.html
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 8:21 am
You gotta love these people who think Sarah Palin is stupid, but that Ron Paul is a genius. Nice one.
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 8:35 am
That transcript alteration by PBS is amazing. They can’t possibly think they can get away with that in the age of the Web, yet the fact that they did it shows how desperate they are to prop up Obama and how strangely hopeful they are that sufficient people still tune into Old Media that they can pull off the lie.
On that note I see the WSJ pinned Greg Sargent of the WaPo to the wall over the Jimmy Hoffa remarks about the Tea Party, that he and fellow unionists were waiting for Obama to lead them and “take these son of a bitches out.”. Sargent wrote the following:
As the WSJ said:
The hypocrisy and double standards does not get clearer than that. Wonder whether Hoffa’s remarks got any coverage here in the NZ media or left-blogs, let alone compared to the coverage of the Gifford’s shooting and the subsequent attacks on Palin.
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 8:45 am
BlairM – “You gotta love these people who think Sarah Palin is stupid, but that Ron Paul is a genius. Nice one.”
Fair enough. So what makes you think Ron Paul is stupid, or that Sarah Palin isn’t?
edit: I don’t think Sarah Palin is stupid, just that she’s not smart enough.
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 9:05 am
“That transcript alteration by PBS is amazing. They can’t possibly think they can get away with that in the age of the Web”
Interesting you should say that. As I was googling the dirt to dish on Sarah Palin last night, I discovered a lot of the searches brought up by key words such as, “dumb Palinisms” directed me to sites which contained neutral or even pro Palin sayings, which leads me to believe that the web is currently under an unprecedented misinformation attack. I’m curious to know if anyone else has noticed this.
The following site seems to dominate Palin derogatory searches, with innocuous or irrelevant examples:
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/sarahpalin/a/palinisms.htm
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Glad to see you’re being your usual, reasonable self Scott.
The problem is that we’ve lost track of what “smart” means in comparing people, what it means in terms of leadership, what it means in arguing ideas, and whether it’s even applicable to the monstrous governments we’ve built.
With regard to the first two, I love the line – credentialed, not educated – which describes a hell of a lot of our ruling class nowadays, especially in the political world. I’d personally go for people who are wise, especially in politicians, and I see precious little of that quality in Obama.
The third is about completely different qualities that are hard to measure or even define, but which make all the difference in the world. I’ve no doubt Steve Jobs is smart, but he’s no smarter than many others in his industry, perhaps not as smart as some – yet “smart” does not describe what he’s been able to do.
As far as ideas are concerned it’s even worse. If someone is defined as “smart” the implication is that their ideas are more likely to be right than wrong. And with the left it’s even worse: they’re smart because their ideas are right, and their ideas are right because they’re promulgated by smart people. I’ve no doubt Marx was “smart”.
Finally there’s the end-point of ever-larger government: the problem Hayek spotted in a slightly different context. Our governments are so large, detailed and far-reaching that nobody could ever be smart enough to do much with them. In the US context we get Obama actually believing that there was such a thing as “shovel-ready” jobs, that a giant stimulus bill would actually make it’s way through the bowels of government to the society that needed it. I’ve no doubt he was genuinely surprised when the flood of money was simply soaked up by state and local government – though the pork specialists in Congress knew exactly what was going to happen.
With regard to Obama and government, that’s exactly what many on the right claimed would happen, and that Obama had not a clue that it would. That’s very much not smart. Not that you could tell any lefty that in 2008. Yet those people will spend the next year telling the rest of us about the need for “smart” candidates, and which ones are smart, with no sense of embarrassment or shame (or memory?) about the abject stupidity they demonstrated three years ago. They’ve grown no wiser and still don’t have a clue either, but that won’t stop them yammering away about “smart”.
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 10:02 am
Manolo
Interesting point re Obama’s speech transcript. I’m not sure PBS have altered anything. When tom hunter raised this yesterday I had a quick look and the difference is between the transcript ‘for delivery’ and what Obama actually said. Maybe he should just read his speeches or use an autocue.
Vote:No matter, really, whether Lincoln founded the Republican Party or filled the lesser role of being the first Republican President – the rhetorical point was the thing. Imagine going back to the 1860s or 70s and telling people that in 150 years the Republican President would be a white Governor of Texas or the Democrat President would be a black northerner.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:14 am
**”Glad to see you’re being your usual, reasonable self Scott.”
I recognized the niche vacated by Pete George. The fun of being a fence sitter is that everyone hates you. To the Righties you’re a lefty, and the Lefties think you’re a Righty.
** “I’ve no doubt Steve Jobs is smart, but he’s no smarter than many others in his industry, perhaps not as smart as some – yet “smart” does not describe what he’s been able to do.”
I’ve no doubt that Steve Jobs is smart enough to say that he is also lucky. But he certainly deserves some of his good fortune, for, as Benjamin Franklin famously said, “Diligence is the mother of good luck.”
** “I’ve no doubt Marx was “smart”.”
Nor do I. Perhaps he would have been smart enough to change his mind once the flaws became apparent in the practice of what on the surface, appears to have beeen a sound theory.
**”In the US context we get Obama actually believing that there was such a thing as “shovel-ready” jobs, that a giant stimulus bill would actually make it’s way through the bowels of government to the society that needed it.”
I suspect Obama is smart enough to know that there is no such thing as a shovel ready job, but dumb enough to lie to a public willing to believe that picking up highway trash seems like a good idea.
Perhaps puppet presidents are the best kind, and maybe we should focus more on the puppet-masters. George W may have been great, had Cheney and Rumsfeld been the same.
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Sure, sure. And of course a fair-minded person like you will accept that line the next time Perry talks of Social Security as a Ponzi scheme, or Sarah Palin talks of “targeting” Democrats. Why it rather reminds me of this: “Hoffa didn’t call for violence at all. His quote was actually a call for people to go out and vote. . . . But what Hoffa actually said is entirely beside the point. – Greg Sargent.
I’m impressed – that’s very slick ironic humour!
Gack! I think lots of people got pissed off with PG because he was disingenuous about his ideological underpinnings. Which is to say that he’s a leftist in the ways that count: ever larger government, more regulations and “free” stuff, and as those things fail he’ll shift to the default position of simply defending the status quo, all the while claiming that’s “niether left nor right”. He thinks he’s being “pragmatic” by offering up a constant fiddling with the gigantic rule book of government to try and maintain failing institutions. He’d make a fine member of the European Parliament/Constitutional Commission/Central Bank.
I’ve said before that Peter Dunne would have made a good National MP in the Holyoake era, and that’s exactly what I thought of Pete, so no surprises that he joined up with UF. But that era of smug, self-satisfied, “small-ball”, rule-twiddling government in the 1950′s and 60′s is what ultimately delivered us into the maw of the Rogernomics revolution – and I think we’re on the same path again, only this time with what’s left of government institutions in this country – especially education and health.
But when there are people who genuinely wanted to shake up the system – in this case the Tea Party in the US – PG went straight to the left default: they were idiots, rabble controlled by behind-the-scenes forces, anti-democratic, as well as repeating the then-new slur – Teabaggers. That’s not the response of a moderate person but a reactionary: someone who knows (or strongly suspects) that the status quo is failing, who thinks it can be rescued with tweaks, and wants to crush anybody suggesting fundamental changes.
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Good stuff tom
One minor misstatement from Obama cancels out any a number of nuttier pronouncement from his opponents.
Don’t know too many out there would know who founded the Republicans. I have a basic knowledge and I wouldn’t have known that, apart form the political cause of the Civil War being the split ion the Democrats followed by the election of Lincoln.
Anyhow, any chance of this latest package getting anywhere? Hard to see any incentives for the Republicans to play ball, but what will Obama’s tactical response be? As he gets more into the campaign mode, will his popularity pick up again, or is he fatally wounded now?
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 12:59 pm
mm – “Maybe he should just read his speeches or use an autocue.”
th – “I’m impressed – that’s very slick ironic humour!”
A lot of people rave about Obama’s oratorical prowess. To me, he always sounds like he’s reading what someone else wrote, and as if he’s trying to convince himself of its veracity. I also got that feeling about Condaleeza Rice. Perhaps it’s an AfAm thang.
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
To quote that great philosopher Forrest Gump, “stupid is as stupid does”. By that standard, Obama is positively retarded.
I don’t think either Sarah Palin or Ron Paul are particularly stupid, but you have to question the intelligence of anyone who thinks it’s okay for Iran to have nuclear weapons just because America does. And some of his votes in the House have bordered on the ridiculous.
I would love to know WHY people think Sarah Palin is stupid, when everything she has done to date, including her governorship, has shown her to be a very clever woman indeed.
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
“but you have to question the intelligence of anyone who thinks it’s okay for Iran to have nuclear weapons just because America does”
Politically stupid perhaps, but for a libertarian, he is being philosophically consistent. That is why I like him. Tactically, if America were to withdraw from the middle east, perhaps Iran having nuclear weapons would create more balance, just as nuclear weapons did so in the cold war. Just a thought.
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Woah – you’re on fire today mm; the word One.. is a particularly nice touch.
As regards your knowledge of an obscure thing like the founding of the GOP in the US, I think that’s fair enough – for you or me. But this fool is supposed to have a fact-checking staff looking over these things, and if he did read the speech beforehand (I seem to recall him boasting that he’s better at it than his speechwriters) you’d think he’d have at least responded with something like: Really. I didn’t know that. Is that actually true?. So he’s both incompetent in a minor thing like that, and incompetent in hiring a staff that makes these sorts of screwups. You can actually take a look at the incredible list of Obamateurisms. My faves for 2011 are:
- Rails against “big money flooding the airwaves” in politics … at a $35,800 per person fundraiser
- “Eric, don’t call my bluff. I’m going to the American people with this.”
- Identifies wrong soldier as non-posthumous MoH recipient
- Accuses GOP of trying to hurt senior citizens – after lecturing them not to demagogue on entitlement reform
- “If you’re complaining about the price of gas and you’re only getting 8 miles a gallon, you know, you might want to think about a trade-in.”
Many of these are not so much “gaffes” as demonstrations of an incredible lack of self-awareness of what he’s saying – in a word, cluelessness. I can only surmise that he thinks people will cover his stupidities for him – and outside of right-wing blog sites, they do, in exactly the way they did not with Bush and will not with any GOP nominee.
Regarding your other thoughts: No, his proposals are dead on arrival, mainly because they’re just a re-hash of previous crap, not least asking for $450 billion right now when $800 billion did not work in 2009. Not to mention that his idea of paying for it is through additional cuts later in the decade from the Debt Reduction Committee that’s barely started work and who few believe will find the $1.2 trillion of savings, let alone $1.65 trillion over the next ten years.
Obama’s tactical response will be to simply keep repeating himself during his campaign, something that had already been in full swing to the extent that the GOP regarded this speech as just another campaign event – which brings me to this from the list above:
- After telling Boehner and McConnell that “there will be plenty of time to campaign for 2012 in 2012,”announces March start to re-election bid
Vote:September 11th, 2011 at 9:32 pm
John Keys’ record:
Total NZ Government borrowings from 1/12/2008 to 31/7/2011 = NZ$37,485,000,000.00 ($37.5 billion).
Average interest rate on debt = 4.41%.
Total commitment imposed by National Government on NZ citizens to date for debt repayment = $53 billion.
National government debt per citizen = $12,300 (to 31/7/2011).
National government debt per nett taxpayer = $38,100.
Projected National government debt by 26/11/2011 per nett NZ taxpayer = $44,000 per.
Highest NZ government indebtedness in both absolute and per capita in our entire history even after PPParity adjustment. What a great record National and you haven’t even finished your 1st term. Come on Johnny you’ve already beaten Muldoon – at this rate you can easily hit $70 billion total debt repayments by the election with a few more smiles and waves.
[DPF: off topic and now spamming. 20 demerits]
Vote:September 12th, 2011 at 3:41 am
The Messiah’s own people are having doubts: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/us/politics/11obama.html?_r=1
Vote: